125cc: Olive steals provisional pole
Joan Olive took provisional pole position in the 125cc class at Motegi in a session which saw times tumble dramatically in the closing minutes
Olive had topped the times just after halfway through the half-hour session, but it was not long after he set this time that the action at the front picked up. In the final ten minutes of the session, the fastest time dropped by just under five seconds.
In the final five minutes of the session, there were six provisional polesitters, as Marc Marquez went to the top, followed by Sergio Gadea, Andrea Iannone, Esteve Rabat, Gadea again, Olive, Nicolas Terol before Olive finally grabbed the position after the chequered flag had fallen.
Even then his position was not secure as three other riders took the second-fastest time after Olive had clinched the top spot, Bradley Smith taking second ahead of championship leader Mike di Meglio, with Dominique Aegerter and Pol Espargaro completing the top five.
Terol, who was on pole when the chequered flag fell, ended up sixth-fastest, just ahead of reigning 125cc champion Gabor Talmacsi. Marquez, who was on pole with five minutes remaining, tumbled down the order to finish up fifteenth.
Di Meglio's closest challenger for the championship, Simone Corsi, didn't have a great day and ended up two and a half seconds off the pace in 21st place.
Pos Rider Team Bike Time Laps
1. Joan Olive Belson Derbi Derbi 2:02.296 12
2. Bradley Smith Polaris World Aprilia 2:02.422 + 0.126 12
3. Mike Di Meglio Ajo Motorsport Derbi 2:02.573 + 0.277 12
4. Dominique Aegerter Ajo Motorsport Derbi 2:02.855 + 0.559 13
5. Pol Espargaro Belson Derbi Derbi 2:02.884 + 0.588 12
6. Nicolas Terol Jack & Jones WRB Aprilia 2:03.005 + 0.709 11
7. Gabor Talmacsi Bancaja Aspar Aprilia 2:03.326 + 1.030 8
8. Sandro Cortese Emmi - Caffe Latte Aprilia 2:03.494 + 1.198 10
9. Stefan Bradl Grizzly Gas Kiefer Aprilia 2:03.507 + 1.211 10
10. Andrea Iannone I.C. Team Aprilia 2:03.534 + 1.238 11
11. Raffaele De Rosa Onde 2000 KTM 2:03.666 + 1.370 10
12. Esteve Rabat Repsol KTM KTM 2:03.668 + 1.372 12
13. Sergio Gadea Bancaja Aspar Aprilia 2:03.673 + 1.377 12
14. Tomoyoshi Koyama ISPA KTM Aran KTM 2:03.694 + 1.398 11
15. Marc Marquez Repsol KTM KTM 2:03.736 + 1.440 13
16. Danny Webb Degraaf Aprilia 2:04.012 + 1.716 12
17. Pablo Nieto Onde 2000 KTM 2:04.113 + 1.817 12
18. Alexis Masbou Loncin Racing Loncin 2:04.305 + 2.009 13
19. Lorenzo Zanetti ISPA KTM Aran KTM 2:04.433 + 2.137 11
20. Scott Redding Blusens Aprilia 2:04.746 + 2.450 11
21. Simone Corsi Jack & Jones WRB Aprilia 2:04.884 + 2.588 13
22. Michael Ranseder I.C. Team Aprilia 2:05.383 + 3.087 10
23. Jonas Folger Red Bull KTM KTM 2:05.649 + 3.353 13
24. Takaaki Nakagami I.C. Team Aprilia 2:05.995 + 3.699 9
25. Efren Vazquez Blusens Aprilia 2:06.041 + 3.745 10
26. Marco Ravaioli Matteoni Racing Aprilia 2:07.679 + 5.383 10
27. Jules Cluzel Loncin Racing Loncin 2:07.720 + 5.424 12
28. Cyril Carrillo FFM Honda GP Honda 2:07.850 + 5.554 12
29. Adrian Martin Bancaja Aspar Aprilia 2:07.952 + 5.656 11
30. Robert Muresan Grizzly Gas Kiefer Aprilia 2:08.090 + 5.794 12
31. Yuuichi Yanagisawa 18 Garage Racing Honda 2:08.182 + 5.886 10
32. Robin Lasser Grizzly Gas Kiefer Aprilia 2:08.552 + 6.256 11
33. Hiroomi Iwata DYDO Miu Racing Honda 2:08.741 + 6.445 10
34. Stevie Bonsey Degraaf Aprilia 2:08.951 + 6.655 11
Not qualified (Outside 107%)
Iori Namihira Honda Suzuka Honda 2:11.083 + 8.787 11
Kazuma Watanabe Team Plus One Honda 2:12.067 + 9.771 12
Hugo Van Den Berg Degraaf Aprilia 2:12.808 + 10.512 12
Hiroki Ono Battle Factory Honda 2:13.039 + 10.743 9
Bastien Chesaux WTR San Marino Aprilia 2:17.017 + 14.721 8
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